Bernardo Estornés Lasa, (19071999) was a Spanish lyrical poet and writer in the Basque language. He founded and directed the General Illustrated Encyclopedia of the

Basque Country (autonomous community) The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

, popularly known as the

Auñamendi Encyclopedia The Auñamendi Encyclopedia is the largest encyclopedia of Basque culture and society, with 120,000 articles and more than 67,000 images. History Founded in 1958 by the Estornés Lasa brothers, Bernardo and Mariano. He began publishing in 196 ...

, whose contents have been uploaded to the digital encyclopedia of the Basque Country Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia.

Biography

In 1922 he moved to Zaragoza to study. He learned Basque and began his historiographic studies in the Roncal Valley, writing his first book in 1927 "Erronkari" with great sales success. In that year he joined the Basque Studies Society (Eusko Ikaskuntza). He graduated in 1929 with the title of Commercial Professor. In December of that year, he was appointed Head of the Office of the Basque Studies Society. In September 1930, he participated in the decision to draw up the draft of the

Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 {{Politics of Basque Country (autonomous community) The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko Estatutua; es, Estatuto de Autonomía del País Vasco), widely known as the Statute of Gernika ( eu, Gern ...

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

. Between 1933 and 1934 he created the Beñat Idaztiak publisher and the Zabalkundea Collection. In 1938, with

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

and the pre-war in Europe, he decided to leave for America. In 1946 he organized a glass recycling industry as a source of income for the family while he was in exile. He promotes the publishing house "Ekin" of Basque exiles in Argentina and publishes his "Estética vasca" (1952). In 1958, he embarked for Europe and settled in San Sebastián. He began to publish the Auñamendi Collection, under the coverage of Itxaropena until 1962. His publications had to overcome

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

censorship based on the order of the Ministry of the Interior (Spain) of 15 July 1939. In 1966, the Academy of the Basque Language (Euskaltzaindia) appointed Estornés as an academic, as does the American Institute of Basque Studies in Buenos Aires. In these years the General Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Basque Country (known as the Auñamendi Encyclopedia ), presented in three sections: «Basque Encyclopedic Dictionary», «Systematic Encyclopedia» and «General Basque Bibliography». In 1992 he was distinguished with the Manuel Lekuona award.

Bibliography

* ''Sabin euskalduna''. Beñat Idaztiak, Eusko Argitaldaria, 1931 * ''Cuentos roncaleses'', poemas y otras cosas navarras, Auñamendi, 1980

Poetry

* ''Cantar de Roncesvalles y otros Poemas navarros'', El, Auñamendi, 1979 * ''Kixmi-ren kantua'' – El Cantar de Kixmi, Auñamendi, 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estornés Lasa, Bernardo 1907 births Basque writers 1999 deaths